Starch is a white, powdery substance that plants make and store for energy, found in foods like potatoes, rice, bread, and pasta. When you eat these foods, your body breaks down the starch into sugar for fuel, which is why a slice of bread or a bowl of rice gives you energy to run, think, and play.

Plants pack starch into their seeds, roots, and tubers as a way to store energy for later, similar to how a squirrel stores acorns for winter. A single potato contains millions of tiny starch granules, invisible to the naked eye but powerful enough to fuel your afternoon.

Starch can also mean a substance used to make fabric stiff and crisp. In the 1800s, people used starch to make shirt collars stand up straight and dresses hold their shape. You might still hear someone say a person seems starched if they act overly formal and stiff, like their personality has been ironed flat. Laundry starch comes from the same plant starches we eat, usually corn or wheat, mixed with water and applied to cloth before ironing.